Samantha "Fourbox" Summers
Samantha Summers, known as Fourbox, is one of the main protagonists of the 08th UFF Squadron RP, being one of the primary members of the titular 08th UFF Squadron. She is the pilot of the VAU Enigma, and is often described as a mecha cowgirl, due to her tough and outgoing personality. Appearance Summary Samantha Summers is a 22-year old human and the pilot of the VAU Enigma. She's tough, somewhat tomboyish and can be snarky at times, but she is loyal to her friends. She is of average build and height, but she looks quite youthful for her age and work. She has been working with mecha all her life, and she has been a fan of them, so her current work as one of the members of the Squadron is a dream come true to her. Eager and ready for a challenge, she's set to discover what is there to be found in Dangrosia. Technical Readout Species: '''Human '''Age: 22 Terran star-cycles / years Height: 5 feet 4 inches / 162 cm Weight: 147 pounds / 66.7 kg Blood Type: B- Hair Color: Brown Hair Length: '''Slightly-above-shoulder length '''Skin Color: Light brown Eye Color: '''Black '''Cup Size: '''C '''Physical Appearance Samantha is a human, aged twenty-two (22) Terran star-cycles, or 22 years in ancient terms. More specifically, she is a brunette, somewhat fair-skinned Terran human with looks that are rather youthful for her age, and more significantly her field - this has not gone unnoticed by others, which sometimes forces her into situations involving some... rather enthusiastic squadmates. Nonetheless, she is of average build, standing at 5'4'' and weighing 147 lb, and her brown, slightly wavy hair barely reaches her shoulders, a self-admittedly reluctant necessity given her profession. This has the side effect of making her look like a tough girl, and sometimes people have liked her to a tomboy based on her looks alone. Personality and Secondary Characteristics Her personality doesn't help matters with the 'tomboy' accusations, either. For one, she has a personality that can be likened to some wistful depictions of female farmhands, or 'cowgirls' as they are affectionately called. She is tough, confident, and quite eager to take a challenge if dared. Not only content with being strong personality-wise, she is also quick to fire off a comment on pretty much anything, and as such she can be very snarky, especially when dealing with other snarky people. Despite this somewhat tough attitude, though, she is kind at heart and will show restraint when asked to - especially if the person that requested for such is one of those that she considers as a friend. Loyal to a fault, she sticks with her friends to the end and is openly defiant at any idea of abandoning them. For another, she has taken a serious liking liking for mechs, suits, and other things similar in concept to them - that is essentially what got her into the profession, and eventually to the 08th UFF Squadron. She has taken up self-study in mech maintenance and re-arm, and though she is nowhere near the level of professional engineers, she can jury-rig a mech in a pinch. This is the reason why she has short hair: the work that she does in her spare time has a nasty tendency of doing things to her hair, so she had to head off to have them cut short to prevent such things from happening. Despite those two above points, however, she is still a girl at heart, and this takes form primarily in her pride in personal appearance. Though her looks are secondary to her work, she still takes her time to groom herself every so often. This extends to her self-image as well: though she doesn't go out of her way to do it, she isn't ashamed of showing off her body if circumstances prevail - though those circumstances may be questionable at best. While many people who have worked with her have theorized that she is either asexual or too occupied to be bothered, she is actually bisexual, though not actively so. Her work is just that important to her. If there's one thing that pisses her off, however, it's betrayal. She takes her loyalty very seriously, and is quite hurt if a friend of hers goes against that ideal. She has tempered this down, but in stressful times she could possibly break down and start becoming paranoid of 'betrayers'. Her voice has a distinct 'western' accent to it, comparable to those colonists who originated from the Terran United States of America state of Texas, making her colony of origin fairly recognizable to those familiar with the accent. Her voice is loud and energetic, befitting her boisterous personality. When she gets pissed off, however, her voices loses its energy and becomes a very quiet but very piercing whisper. This is most evident when she 'recovers' from a betrayal and becomes very bitter as a result. It is as of this revision unknown as to how she got her "Fourbox" nickname. All records have kept nothing on it, and she herself is reluctant to share anything about it, dismissing it as 'some nickname a friend of mine gave me'. Whether this has anything to do with her past is unknown. Background fragmented. Defragmenting... Mechsuit: V.A.U. Enigma var. Appearance The V.A.U. stands for Vehicular Armoured Unit, a specialized testbed unit deployed to take advantage of the recent miniaturization breakthroughs that the Research Division hopes to be eventually able to replace conventional mecha, which are often several stories tall and thus unable to occupy confined spaces, especially those used by colonies where mecha aren't a part of normal life yet. As of this record, only two such suits have been built: the Hyperborean and the Enigma, both assigned to pilots in the 8th UFF Squadron, the UFF's testbed squadron. They are both suits just slightly larger than the user, with their entry points located at the back. They are essentially smaller-sized versions of conventional mecha, with adaptations added in to deal with the obvious differences with piloting a mecha as against wearing said mecha as an advanced suit of armor. The Enigma is meant to be exactly the same as its namesake, an unknown force that keeps the enemy guessing. To that end, it is an all-black medium-size and lightly armored VAU with red energy conduits flowing in and out of the machine all over the armor. The red conduits, however, are just for intimidation and vision purposes - one can easily switch off the lights in the suit if maximum stealth is required. The design is otherwise similar to its sister design, with the Blackout Suite replacing the Cryotank. Equipment All the mysterious looks won't make the Enigma effective at all, however. What does make it terrifyingly effective is the simple but effective combination of three weapon systems: the Blackout Suite, the Gauss Rifle, and the Energy Blade. Blackout Suite The Blackout Suite is exactly what the name suggests, a full-scale communications and electronics disruption suite. This is essentially the big brother to the Electronics Counter-Measure (ECM) suite, which is in itself a potent electronics warfare tool. This suite essentially disrupts all communications and sensor systems within a specified range in such a way as to make the area within its range invisible to enemy comms and sensors, and it furthermore cuts off any enemy units' signals from being transmitted to anyone, even to itself, as long as it remains within the blackout bubble. This ensures that not only will the Enigma and its allies be essentially invisible to enemies without a discerning sense, but so will be the unfortunate investigating unit's fate be hidden as well, at least until after the Enigma is gone. However, such a powerful system comes at a cost. The entire system generates a huge amount of waste heat, proportional to the square of the radius of the blackout bubble. While a personal cloaking field can be maintained for a long time, having that field cover others reduces that amount of time significantly, to the point that the Enigma would likely melt immediately if it tried to cover an entire army without adequate cooling devices to cover for that, and it would be impossible for it to cover an entire Terra-sized planet without turning said planet into a star (if the device survives the ordeal anyway). Another, more important concern is the disadvantage of relying too much on the device. The device, first and foremost, does not render its forces invisible to the naked eye - it may disrupt other types of vision like x-ray, but it cannot beat a good eye or even a simple infrared goggles (see previous paragraph). Second, there is a trick that radar can use to beat it: send a signal outward and check for blind spots. That blind spot could be where the Blackout Suite is operating, especially if the spot moves. This trick, however, is unreliable, as it only determines where it is, and not how many does it cover. It is also rendered unreliable by natural blind spots in radar systems, though not by much. Gauss Rifle The Gauss Rifle is essentially in ancient Terran terms a railgun, a weapon that accelerates matter at extremely high speeds through a series of electromagnets. However, this weapon is a far cry from said weapon, as it is far more adaptable than its counterpart. The Gauss Rifle has two distinct advantages: the ability to fire at different speeds and rates of fire, and the ability to fire different types of ammunition. This makes it a versatile weapon - it can be a sniper-rifle equivalent one second, a grenade launcher the next, a machine gun soon after. This deadly package of simplicity and effectiveness comes with but two costs: one is its reliance on ammunition, the other is its propensity for explosion when critically struck in its charged mode. Both of these disadvantages are moot, however, since it can be loaded with pretty much anything that can fit in the barrel, and one would be in a situation with a severe disadvantage anyway if it came to pass that the Gauss Rifle was threatened with destruction. Energy Blade The Energy Blade, though it is nothing but a simple miniaturization of the beam blades used by conventional mecha on the surface, is still a deadly weapon in capable hands. One slash can cut cleanly through most matter, and only energy shields have a chance of deflecting them with a corresponding penalty to their overall strength. However, 'on the surface' means that it is, indeed, overhauled. The overhaul was simple, but highly effective: it can finally alter the shape and size of the blade. This makes it extremely useful for taking on multiple opponents in close combat, and sometimes may even be used to cut something at length. Naturally, such a change comes with a price: each different size and shape emits a certain level of heat, exponentially increasing with the total coverage of the blade. While this puts a distinct advantage on piercing shapes, it also disallows being able to slash an entire floor's contents off in one sweep, which is in itself a dangerous move to perform. Storage System These three weapon systems are combined together in one frighteningly powerful package, but that all pales in comparison to its storage system: all of its equipment are in fact stored within the VAU itself. To be specific, there are four Gauss Rifles: two within the arms, and two more on the shoulders; and four Energy Blades: two hidden within the arms and one more in each leg. This makes the Enigma an unpredictable and highly versatile combatant, as it can switch between its weapons at any moment. This means that, for instance, it can be wielding two Energy Blades in its hands and have the Gauss Rifles in the shoulders be active, or it can have all four Energy Blades active to maximize close-quarters combat potential with all four limbs, or it can have all four Gauss Rifles out and ready to deliver firepower at range. The same goes for its subsystems, particularly its thrusters and stabilizers. These equipment are hidden behind shifting armor plates, which move aside to reveal their respective hidden gear. This makes the Enigma less armored than its counterparts, though - a fair tradeoff considering its intended role. Gallery Samantha_Summers.PNG Category:Character Category:Protagonist